Writing this week about all these Amy Hempel stories, well, we’re bound to spend time talking about her opening sentences. Almost without fail, she hits you with an attention-grabber early on. Sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes it’s just plain odd.

In “Animal Shelter,” it’s neither. It’s interesting.

And that’s quite a trick on Hempel’s part.

The selection:

Every time you see a beautiful woman, someone is tired of her, so the men say.